Chinese investors eye top Italian soccer clubs

In what could indicate the latest potential Chinese foray into European soccer, a 12-person delegation from Suning Commerce Group, one of China's largest privately owned retailers, visited Inter Milan last Friday and Saturday. Club chief spokesperson Robert Faulkner said the visiting delegation was headed by chairman of Nanjing-based Suning, Zhang Jindong, China Daily reports.
AC Milan, meanwhile, said it had received several expressions of interest in acquiring a stake from some Chinese groups. Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is chairman of the club and his company Fininvest is the holding company for AC Milan.
Today Italy's La Repubblica newspaper reported that Alibaba founder Jack Ma is heading up a group which is aiming to buy an initial 70 percent stake in AC Milan, with the option of acquiring the remaining 30 percent over the coming year.
The Chinese billionaire and his associates are prepared to pay 400 million euros ($450 million) for the 70 percent stake, the newspaper said.
Analysts said the recent moves on Milan clubs fit a broader effort by Chinese interests to invest in European soccer.
"As China pursues its sport industry vision and its soccer goals, it is highly likely that we will see more European club acquisitions," said Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise at Salford Business School in Manchester.
Buying a European soccer club is a great way of learning how to run all aspects of the game and can also generate revenue, said Chadwick, adding "at another level, buying a club contributes to a diversified business portfolio, something that aligns with the conglomeration of some Chinese entertainment businesses."
Strong Chinese interest in European soccer stems in part from the ambition heralded by President Xi Jinping to raise the quality of soccer in China, with an eye to winning a World Cup bid and perhaps one day winning the tournament.

Full story